Showing 81 - 90 of 110
Southeast Asia-US relations under Trump
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/05/2018
» Widely despised at home and abroad, US President Donald Trump is still in office well over a year into his controversial first term. Daily headlines from the leading media of the world have suggested from the outset that he is likely to be impeached, that his presidency is destined to be derailed due to this or that scandal. In the predominant view of the global intelligentsia more broadly, Mr Trump has been so damaging and toxic to the fabric of American democratic values and to the coherence and longevity of the rules-based liberal international order that has lasted over the past seven decades that he should not be allowed to last a full four-year term.
Thailand's global standing at a low point
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/05/2018
» When the fourth anniversary of Thailand's coup comes to pass later this month, Thailand's foreign relations will be one of the many costs to be counted from the military government. While the Thai administration of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha insists otherwise, Thailand's international standing has sunk to its lowest point. One of the immediate tasks facing the elected government after the poll will be to rectify and restore Thailand's international reputation.
Is Thailand's civil society waking up again?
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/01/2018
» It is hard to believe how the military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that appeared so strong not so long ago now looks shaky enough to be untenable.
A year of living dangerously in Thailand
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/01/2018
» They were supposed to be in power for the royal transition but they have stayed too long and now want to win an unavoidable election.
Royal transition explains military's grip
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/10/2017
» Hindsight will look back at Thailand's prolonged political interregnum after the military coup on 22 May 2014 with perplexity and astonishment. It will be remembered as a time of junta rule in a country that had overthrown military dictatorships repeatedly in 1973 and 1992. This time, the self-styled strongman from the barracks was Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, who would end up in office for longer than most elected leaders before him. There will be many questions and criticisms of Gen Prayut's tenure and rule but undergirding them will be his unrivalled role a year ago today, on 13 Oct 2016, with the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The consequent royal transition is likely to be viewed in posterity as the principal reason why the Thai people have had to put up with Gen Prayut.
Migrant workers policy yet another flop
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/07/2017
» Assessed from just about any angle, it is difficult not to see Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's recent policy announcements on migrant workers as a series of self-inflicted flops. While damage control is the government's immediate concern, Thailand's longer-term priorities require an overhaul of its manpower strategies and a broader change in the Thai mindset on migrant workers from neighbouring countries.
Challenges, prospects of 2017 constitution
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/04/2017
» Nearly three years after its last military coup, there is good and bad news as Thailand gears up to leave behind the current period of military government, whose record has been mixed at best.
Thailand's prospects for 2017 and beyond
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/01/2017
» Thailand and the world at large are concurrently going through a rut that comes with the transitional end of any long era. For the world, this period is known as the postwar liberal order that was constructed and led by the United States in the aftermath of World War II. As constituent states in the international system have benefited immensely and risen to challenge and rival traditional US power and prestige, Washington appears intent on shirking its global leadership role. The unfolding result is a fluid and precarious global canvass, underpinned by tectonic power shifts and manoeuvres and geopolitical tensions and volatility -- a subject which warrants a separate analysis.
Thailand's law of graft and government longevity
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/09/2016
» After a surprisingly successful referendum on its preferred draft constitution, the military government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears on course for relatively smooth sailing for the next 15 months or so in the run-up to the next poll. The only two potential show stoppers on the government's path are the royal transition and self-inflicted abuse of power. The former is a process that is difficult for Thais to fathom after a 70-year reign that has turned Thailand from a backwater village to a modern nation. The latter, however, is all too familiar.
Thailand's changing political narrative
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/09/2016
» So far in the 21st century, the main narrative of Thai politics has centred on a colour-coded class divide, characterised by an urban-rural chasm along the lines of elites versus the masses.